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27 July 2006

inday garutay and lgbt discrimination + manila jerks + life changes

Press Release 25 July 2006 Quezon City

Inday Garutay Cries Foul, Files Complaint against Aruba Restaurant

In the past few weeks, people must have read and heard of the 4 July 2006 incident at Aruba Restaurant in Metrowalk Pasig City where Inday Garutay was reportedly approached by the restaurant supervisor, a certain “Tintin” Aguilar, and was told that Aruba had a dress code, and that cross-dressers like him are prohibited from entering the establishment. (“Mayroon po kaming dress code dito. Bawal po ang cross-dresser. Bawal po ang ganyang katulad mo.”) Out of indignation, Inday Garutay left Aruba, not realizing until hours later that he finally understood what discrimination really meant.

“ENOUGH. It is simply no longer acceptable for people to get away with discriminating against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders (LGBTs) on the basis of our sexual orientation. We do not want special rights – only EQUAL rights,” said Atty. Gari Bernal of the Rainbow Rights Project (R-Rights), Inc.

Inday Garutay has since filed a civil case for damages against Aruba Restaurant. As stated in his complaint, “while private establishments do have the right to impose a dress code, it may not (sic) – in the guise of implementing such a dress code – discriminate against individuals on the basis of his or her personal condition, i.e., sexual orientation.”

The Philippines is a signatory to several international agreements that uphold the human rights of and equal protection for all persons, including sexual minorities. Equal protection for all persons is likewise constitutionally enshrined in the Bill of Rights. The State is further given the duty to ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.

"We admire Inday Garutay’s bravery in fighting for equality. Discrimination exists yet only a few ever come out to complain, making it appear that it is not happening. There are many reports of similar incidents in other private establishments, but the victims often choose not to come out publicly for fear of reprisal or further abuse. We hope that Inday Garutay’s act of bravery will embolden other gays and lesbians to report cases of discrimination,” said Germaine Leonin, President of R-Rights.

Inday Garutay’s experience makes it clear that we need to pass the Anti-Discrimination Bill, which is presently pending in Congress as H.B. No. 634 of Rep. Etta Rosales, and S.B. Nos. 1641 of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago and 1738 of Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. The passage of the Anti-Discrimination Bill is crucial in defining and penalizing practices that unjustly discriminate against the LGBT community.

“Businesses, big and small, should not be allowed to benefit from the power of the pink peso if they are not ready to treat their LGBT patrons with respect, and to accord them equal service,” said Anne Marie Lim of R-Rights.

Of course, there are at least two sides to a story. "Either way, the LGBT Community stands to benefit because these issues have been brought to light and more people may now come to know and understand the LGBT community's struggles and plight," said Angie Umbac of R-Rights.

---- R-Rights is a group of lawyers and legal advocates which provides the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community with a legal resource center and academic think tank dedicated to sexual orientation law and public policy. You can contact R-Rights by email through r_rightsproject@yahoo.com.

nobody should be denied of their rights no matter who they are. kahit nga yung napagsuspetsahang kriminal at dinadampot na, dapat pinapaalam sa kanila ang dahilan kung bakit sila inaaresto at pinipik-ap ng pulisya. kaya meron sa states na tinatawag na miranda rights. ito yung shpluk ng mga lespu na "you have the right to remain silent. anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. you have the right to an attorney and if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided you...blah" sorry di ko memorya ang miranda rights. hanggang diyan lang ang kaya ng powers ko.

so goes inday garutay's case. i do hope aruba and all of the elitist industries in the philippines learn from this. first, we are filipinos and we are never second class citizens in our own fucking country. and that i want to address to places like hard rock café in makati and, well, the now defunct giraffe and also café havana in greenbelt3. and all places na kapag may puting pumasok, inuuna nilang pagsilbihan iyon kesa sa aming mga naunang pinoy doon.

but sometimes, it's also sad that people in a position of comfort like inday take fighting for their rights for granted sometimes. sabi nga niya, ngayon lang daw niya naintindihan yung pinaglalaban ng lgbt movement all this time sa pride march. kumbaga, until it happens to these people, they don't care about the movement. now, they come running to it/us when they get offended.

hmmm.. in other lalala news, a friend from a glossy magazine forwarded this link to me. subtitled trouble in model-landia. i know it's still abuse against women but... sige, this took place in a "fabulous yacht party" full of partying beautiful people of manila. and by beautiful people we mean... mowdelz. yea you know, the cal carrie types and all, and those people i didn't want to cover back then when it was like "fashion week" in metro manila. blah. mowdelz. i really hated the fashion beat. sorry ha. i just don't like it.

i dunno. lots of women in more destitute situations get beaten up daily on a regular basis and we don't even hear of them. just because this gelay had a blog, she can scream all she wants. not to say na tama yung nangyari sa kanya (pero actually, hindi nga gaanong malala e). what i mean is that siguro harapin na lang niya yung model jerk na chumorva sa kanya para matameme once and for all. after all, the running stereotype about these male models are all...true. so she should take advantage of that and scare the bejeezus out of this jerk of hers. and empower herself in the process. whoever she is.

so yes, you folks can go back to sleeping late on saturday mornings hehe. i know you wake up because i badgered you to see the show on account of me hehe. and thanks mucho for that. pero well, support the show na lang rin just in case even if i'm not there fulltime.

i'm exploring another directing option now pero i can't spill it yet. i have yet to see if this will affect my sexlife anew hehe bago tayo um-oo ng husto.

in other homophobic news, my friend told me that jullie yap daza wrote this recently in a magazine pullout for a broadsheet:

"There are more risky types of sex, but none more risky than sex with an ex, sex with a best friend's spouse, sex with a best friend's ex, and sex with the same sex. With an ex, it could lead to reconciliation! With friend's spouse, to confrontation! With friend's ex, to guilt and self-pity for touching damaged goods! With the same sex, to the sudden awakening that one is too lonely and too lost, to have to turn to homosexuality. Alas, same-sex sex is a common casualty of AIDS/HIV."

danton said baka lost o pa-witty lang ang lola yap. kasi fag hag daw siya at may openly gay son. but still, this does not mean open ang mind ng husto ng lola. o kaya kelangan niya ng extra education o paglilinaw. like i have friends whom i thought na bukas ang isipan pero they still use the term THIRD SEX not realizing that it demeans more than lgbts by relegating us to a hierarchy of sexes and that it is also demeaning to them as women because it means second class lang ang babae compared to men who are considered as first sex. papayag ba tayong lahat sa ganon????? i don't think so.

i am your best friend or worst enemy. choose.

this site is a repository of things i think about. reflections, thoughts, angsts, musings, observations, philosophies, theories, rants, hypotheses on life and all its aspects and culture and all its nuances.

it is written primarily in Filipino and English, the official languages of my Asian archipelago nation called the Philippines. it is also written in sub-languages of communities which i belong to, primarily metropolitan gayspeak and showbiz dialects.

while my aim is to be formal in this space, attempts fail due to psychological factors that affect my day. hence, i could speak in tongues, discombobulate endlessly, or just let the stream of consciousness flow. hello virgina woolf, ikaw ba 'yan?

‘yun na.

and one more thing: if you are offended by feminism, lesbianism and all things nice, stay the hell out of here. but if you're willing to learn and open your mind -- in a way opening your heart -- then read on, and feel free to ask smart questions.